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I attended the SOulFully Textured Natural Hair Event in the Boston Seaport. There was something about walking through a white metropolis of Lululemon wearing rich folks, and ending up surrounded by black and brown women proudly embracing their natural hair, that gave me a sense of how important natural hair events really are.
Since the Seaport is not a representation of all Bostonians it was nice for once to see some melanin looking back at me, and with the over 30 small black-owned businesses as vendors, it was an opportunity to put money into the black community.
“But what happened in the Seaport is not just the failure to add a richly diverse neighborhood to downtown. It is also an example of how the city’s black residents and businesses missed out on the considerable wealth created by the building boom” – The Boston Globe
So for the location alone I give SOulFully Textured a 10 out of 10. I love an opportunity to be unapologetic with my blackness so I had to rock my Melanin Poppin T-shirt with style and pride.
More than an Event
It was an interactive experience. The day was filled with networking, sharing hair knowledge, viewing, purchasing, and making our own art by collectively painting a mural. I Shopped for natural hair and skin care and sat in on a live hair demo done by Anique Nichole Hair Studio, a natural hair salon in Dorchester.
What is your Definition of Natural Hair?
Some define natural hair in the more holistic approach of living and taking care of hair and body. Which means drinking plenty of water and eating the right foods for overall wellness. Isis Brantley believes “strong, great looking hair begins on the inside with a proper diet, and through eliminating stress through spiritual balance and seeking constant growth in all aspects of one’s life.”
Then we have other women who believe being natural means no heat, no hair dye, no weaves, no styling, and no changing the curl pattern at all. So simply wearing your hair as it grows from your head.
Some are more flexible with their definition and believe you are a natural if you are simply heat and relaxer free.
I fall into a combination of all three, I am natural so I avoid heat on my hair. I straighten my hair once every two years and style my hair with products that are as natural as possible. I also believe healthy hair means healthy living so I practice overall wellness to promote healthy hair, skin, and body. Whenever possible I use natural products for all my beauty care needs. I alter my curl pattern with twist outs, braids outs, or any style I feel ambitious enough to try. I am hair dye free because of my own personal choice, but I know of plenty of natural hair women rocking blonde and red coils that are smart with their hair dye choices, and keep up with the maintenance that is involved with processed hair.
As far as the eye could see there were waves of textures, cuts, curls, and hair colors. Don’t get it twisted, in attendance there were more than just women rocking twists outs, wash n go’s, and braid outs. Weave wearers, buzz cuts, and protective styles were next to women who were newly natural. Women who didn’t know where to start were rubbing elbows and sharing information with old pros. I believe the sharing of information and the abundance of natural hair friendly products enticed women with mixed-race children. It’s a beautiful sight to see a mother get help and the resources she needs in a friendly and welcoming environment such as SOulFully Textured.
My hope is that more mothers and caregivers will attend natural hair events to educate themselves on their children’s hair so they know how to properly care and style for it. This will encourage their child’s own love for their hair.
Comparison is the Thief of Joy
When I tell you that I have never seen so many natural hair women in one building I am not joking, the air smelled like coconut oil and shea butter. Every time I was complimented on my wash n go it felt like this
and then this
It’s beautiful when women go out of their way to compliment one another. At SOulFully Textured I witnessed women run up to each other to give out compliments and fall into discussions of hair care products and their preferred styling method.
My wish is that we would give a compliment to each other without taking away from our own hair, “I love your curl definition, my hair is so frizzy”, “I hate this shrinkage, I wish I could get to your length”. Natural hair beauties! The grass isn’t always greener on the other side. Let’s stop comparing ourselves to Instagram curly hair influencers and focus on the health of our hair and styles that work for our textures.
Also, embrace your shrinkage! It’s a sign of healthy hair, focus on the health of your hair over its length.
Healthy Hair Starts with Education
SOulFully Textured aimed to arm us with knowledge, connections, and the confidence to embrace love and care for our kinks, coils, and curls.
Another unique way this was done was through the screening of “Natural Hair The Movie”, a documentary that explores the relationship between black women in American society and their natural hair.
It digs deep into the layers of why we feel the way we do about our hair. Hair has a historical presence throughout American history. From slavery when our hair was forced to be unkempt and unwashed, through the afro pride Black Power movement, to the Jerry curl fad, and the psychological and systemic factors behind relaxers.
With Isis Brantley leading most of the thought-provoking messages, there were several takeaways from the movie. Don’t let people take something away from you that is not theirs to take. Isis was arrested in her hair braiding salon for not having a cosmetology license. This kicked off her decades-long battle of preserving the African ancestral culture and fighting anti-braiding regulations.
The law they tried to throw at her was never intended for her; she didn’t use chemicals, she didn’t alter people’s natural texture or color with chemicals. She was persevering the ancestral art form of braiding and providing for her family. The law didn’t have natural coils, kinks, and curls in mind. Some believe this, like the romanticizing of relaxers, was an attempt to wipe out the appearance of blackness from black people.
Don’t Touch
Don’t. Touch. My. Hair. From t-shirts, drinkware, and music, this was a theme weaved throughout the event. Are we sick and tired of being approached, questioned, and then touched like an animal in an exotic petting zoo? YES.
“Don’t touch my hair with your dirty hands and backhanded compliments”, spoken poetry from Natural Hair The Movie drove the central message of respect. We have to respect ourselves, our hair, and stop letting people invade our space to touch our hair like it’s a science project. In the movie Isis Brantley talked about how for some hair is sacred, only to be touched by ones loved ones who pray over them with each braid. So to let a stranger with strange intentions reach out and grasp their hair it’s more than personal boundaries it’s a cultural offense.
A great tip that I learned from the event was when someone reaches out to touch your hair then you reach out to touch their chin. I can’t wait to do this and look back at their stunned face and be like, “what? I thought we were just invading each other’s space. Oh, is this not what we are doing? My bad” Mic drop.
Why suffer in silence? It’s not our job to educate the masses on the correct way to interact with women of color, but we don’t have to suffer in silence either. This is a message I love because standing up for your needs is an act of self-care and it builds self-confidence and self-worth.
Thank you
I know my friends and I left SOulFully Textured with a renewed sense of pride in our hair. Any event that encourages women to be bold, stand up for themselves, their culture, and fully their embrace hair, while providing a space to learn and buy products by other women just like them, is the only kind of natural hair experience I want. Thank you, Curated Curl, for creating SOulfully Textured, you have spoiled me for other events!
Thank you to the amazing vendors. I loved supporting and learning more about your businesses. Shout out to Anique Nicole Hair Studio, for my REAL Satin Bonnet, the drawstring is a life changer. I love my self-care candle and tea set from The Te Spa and Cool Colored Creator. From my experience with a hair care line that used Moringa oil, I knew that I would love True Moringa for my skin too.
I can’t wait for next year. Let’s wash Seaport in a wave of kinks, coils, and curls!
Get my T-Shirt here!
Have you ever been to a natural hair event? Tell me below how you define being natural.
With love,
Dani